No adoption rights for gay couples, Puerto Rico court rules

The Puerto Rico Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling this week, upheld a law banning adoptions by same-sex couples, telling a plaintiff she should seek to change the law legislatively if she wishes to adopt a 12-year-old girl who her longtime partner gave birth to. "The state ... has not criminalized their sentimental relationship, but it does not have a constitutional obligation to award this relationship the same rights that other relationships have when it comes to adoption procedures," the court said.